Familiar Places, Worn Out Faces
by InTheCompanyOfDragons
Summary: After a case in Palo Alto Sam runs into a familiar face who reminds him of who he used to be. Brotherhood AU by Ridley. Please comment, positive criticism welcome


Familiar Places, Worn Out Faces.

Palo Alto, Sam had been dreading the day he would have to return here, but they had a case so here they were. They had just finished up with a haunting; it could have been a rough one. There were three pissed off ghosts on one property and it was short of a miracle that all three of them had gotten out alive. So to celebrate, Dean and Caleb decided they wanted to go out to a local bar, and weren't going let Sam sit alone in the motel room to brood. Caleb could tell Sam was tense, and who could blame him, this was a place where all of Sam's good memories were tainted by fire, evil, and the sadness of being away from his family. Dean was playing pool with some college guys, so Caleb decided to go back over to the bar where Sam was sitting picking at the label on his beer bottle. Caleb ordered another drink and sat down beside him.

"You okay kid?"

"Yeah I am good, just thinking about all the time I spent here, yet I feel like a stranger now, it seems like a different life."

"In a lot of ways it was Sam. So is it the good memories or the bad memories that are eating at you?" Sam took a sip of his beer and quirked an eyebrow at Caleb. "Hey, I know sometimes the good memories hurt just as much as the bad ones." Sam smiled sadly.

"I am not saying it doesn't still hurt, it hurts everyday. I still love Jess, and I miss her, but after all that has happened, I have made my peace with what happened. It just seems strange to ne that I spent four years here, longer then anywhere else I have ever lived; yet nobody here knows me anymore. I am just a ghost, same as every town we lived in growing up, forgotten. It's like I was never here. Where did the last 6 years go?"

"Hell if I know kid, I still don't know how we all got so old."

"Speak for yourself Caleb, I am still in my twenties." Caleb snorted.

"You are twenty nine Runt, stop milking that line." Sam laughed. Sam and Caleb talked about the good old days, before hell, demons, deals, and before the responsibility of the Brotherhood fell on their shoulders. Eventually Dean, the new Guardian made his way over to his Knight and Scholar. The three men hung out and talked like they used to, when they were just kids growing up on a farm surrounded by the men that had always protected them. After a few more drinks the Triad headed back toward the motel, walking because they had left the Impala at the motel earlier that night. Sam whipped around when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, Winchester." Sam turned toward the figure, but he couldn't quite make out the man's face in the dark. All three men were seasoned hunters, and they instantly tensed, preparing themselves for a fight.

"What's it to you?" Caleb asked. The figure stepped into the light.

"I wasn't talking to you." He said. Sam knew he recognized the man, and after a minute it all clicked.

"Brandon, is that you?" Sam asked. Dean looked towards his brother, demanding an answer to who this was with his intense stare, but Sam continued to stare at the man in front of them.

"I am surprised you remember me after all these years. I mean I was a sixteen year old kid last time you saw me. It was at my sister's funeral. You sat beside my mom and comforted her, but then we never heard from you again." Sam sighed and looked at the kid in front of him.

"I'm sorry kid, I really am, but me sticking around wasn't going to help any of you, I had to go. All I can say is that I loved Jessica more then anything, and I am so sorry you had to grow up without your older sister."

"You know, if you had of told me that 6 years ago, I would have believed every word you said, because I remember how happy you made her, and how kind you were to her." Brandon stared Sam down. "But I have seen the types of things you have done to people, it was all over the news. All those people you killed." Sam stiffened. "I am pre law now, you know, and I looked into past. Turns out your Mother died in the same way Jess did, so what happened. Did your father kill your mother, so when you got sick of my sister you figured you would get rid of her the same way?" Sam released a growl from his throat.

"Watch it kid, you are not that dumb. What the hell do you want from me?"

"I want my sister back you son of a bitch!" Sam lowered his eyes to the ground.

"You wanna know something Brandon? So do I. Even if I can't have her, I wish she were here. I am sorry I can't give you that."

"Well I'm sorry you can't bring her back, but I know you had something to do with her death, and since you can't give me that, I am going to take the next best thing, you." Brandon pulled a gun out of his waistband and pointed it at Sam, but he had no idea what type of people he was dealing with. Sam jumped forward and grabbed the gun attempting to get it away from the young man. Caleb and Dean were attempting to get their youngest away from the weapon when they heard a loud "BOOM" and Sam hit the sidewalk.

"SAM!" Dean yelled sliding down beside his brother. Caleb looked from the Winchester's to Brandon, who was standing there with a shocked look on his face. Brandon turned and ran, and Caleb began to chase him until he heard Sam.

"Caleb…" Sam said. Caleb turned back towards his friends, and Sam shook his head softly. "Let him go."

"What he just shot you!" Sam laughed.

"It's okay, let him go." Caleb grumbled and sunk down to the ground beside the brothers.

"Help me out here Sammy, where you hit? I can't see fuck all right now." Dean said.

"It's a shoulder hit, can't tell if it is as through and through or not, lets get back to the motel before the cops show. This is a college town, cops always show up fast." Sam sat up with a groan, and Dean and Caleb helped him walk back to the motel and put him on the bed farthest from the door. Caleb grabbed the first aid kit from his duffel and handed it to Dean, knowing Dean would want to take point on fixing up his little brother, Caleb would help where he could. Dean cut Sam's shirt off and inspected the wound, then swore under his breath.

"Bullets still in there, and it's deep, it is gonna hurt like a bitch to pull out, I could take to the hospital." Sam groaned and rolled his head towards his brother.

"No hospital Dean, not here, I have records here. You and Caleb can get it out." Damn Winchester luck, not only did Sam have a bullet wedged in his shoulder, they were in one of the only places in the country that had his medical records stored on file. Dean sighed; he knew his brother was right.

"Drink this Sam, then if you feel like you gotta pass out… don't fight it. Just promise to come back after." Sam nodded and drank from the whiskey bottle deeply before closing his eyes. "Caleb, you are gonna hold him down while I dig this out." Caleb's stomach churned, he didn't like causing either of the Winchester's pain, even when it was necessary. He walked over to the side of the bed, and Dean pulled Sam down a bit, so Caleb could get behind him, he gripped Sam tightly by his shoulders, and nodded to Dean to continue. Dean winced as he poured whiskey over the wound, and Sam bucked a little. Now for the hard part, Dean picked up the long tweezers from the first aid kit and held them over the wound.

"Sorry Sammy." Dean whispered, then dug the tweezers deep into his brother's shoulder. He tried to work quickly as his brother began to whimper, and then eventually began to buck and make noises that sounded like stifled screams.

"Caleb, hold him down, I almost got it!"

"I am trying Dean! This kid is fucking strong!"

"Sam! Sammy!" Dean yelled, Sam opened his teary eyes and stared at his brother. "I got it, I just got to pull it out. Count to ten for, and don't move okay?" Sam nodded and put his head back down on the pillow and breathed deeply. Dean dug into the wound, and Sam held mostly still and with in those ten seconds Dean got the bullet out. "Alright Sam one more clean out, then I am gonna bandage it, and you can go to sleep okay?"

"Kay, Dean." Sam whispered. Dean dumped the remainder of the whiskey of the wound and packed and covered the wound. He covered Sam with the blankets and Caleb and Dean moved into the kitchen.

"So that was Jessica's brother?" Caleb asked. Dean shrugged.

"I guess, Sam doesn't talk about her family, he barely talks about her, when we left Stanford 6 years ago, I never thought to ask about them."

"He probably wouldn't have told you anyway."

"Yeah probably not, it's just another part of his life that I wasn't apart of."

"He needed some freedom Deuce, it had nothing to do with you."

"I know."

"Do you?" Dean smiled at his friend.

"Back then I didn't, now I do." After a few hours Sam began to shift in his sleep, so Dean and Caleb walked over towards the bed.

"You okay, Sammy?" Caleb asked.

"I'll be fine in a few days, I've had worse." Sam sat up and winced. "We got lucky, that kid has been shooting guns all his life. Him and Jessica both did."

"I'm gonna kill the kid." Dean muttered, Sam looked at him sharply.

"You will do no such thing Dean, it's over, leave him alone."

"He shot you Sam, I can't just let that go."

"Yes you can, and you will, he's just a kid."

"Yeah a kid with a gun, an anger problem, and a serious chip on his shoulder." Sam laughed.

"Sound familiar?"

"What are you talking about Sam?" Caleb said.

"C'mon guys. He lost an older sibling, someone who had always looked after him, and he had to find someone to blame, someone to take revenge on. He's me guys, and he made a mistake. I saw that look on his face, it's over, let it go. You gave me a second chance when I didn't deserve it, he does deserve a second chance, give him one." Dean's face softened, and he looked at Caleb and the two hunters shared a knowing look. They both had less then fond memories of Sam's darkest days, but what they remember most is when the fog lifted and he realized how bad he had messed up. Sam had suffered the consequences for his mistakes, and he was a better man because of it, maybe Jessica's little brother needed a second chance too.

"Okay Sammy, but when you are healed, we are getting as far from this place as possible, and we are never looking back."

"I second that." Caleb said. "But first, can we get some frigging sleep, this has been a long day, I should no better then to hang out with the Winchester's, bad luck follows you guys everywhere you go. Deuce you are bunking with your baby brother."

"Hey, I am injured, I should get my own bed."

"Too bad Sammy, I am the senior hunter, I say I get my own bed."

"Bite me Reaves." Caleb smiled at the Winchester's, two men that he had seen through some of the best and darkest days of their lives, they were grown up now, but Caleb would always see them as kids, as his brothers, as family.


End file.
